Most regulatory agencies require, and customers demand specific testing for pathogens that are common to specific food types, and agricultural products, that are capable of in vivo multiplication. Rapid and accurate methods for detection of foodborne and waterborne pathogens are essential, particularly in the context of food manufacturing processes, pharmaceutical industry, drinking water and wastewater utilities, management of fisheries resources and bodies of water (recreational, etc). The same applies to the general detection of human, animal and plant pathogens, and in general to any kind of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic pathogens that are capable of in vivo multiplication, and their indicator organisms. Many manufacturers and utilities have, consequently, had to build in-house labs to expedite the testing, or lose valuable time waiting for test results when samples are shipped out to outside labs. The same is true for the utility industry (water and wastewater), and the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, using art-recognized and current standard methods, the cost of enrichment media used to expand the numbers of one or more particular pathogens to detectable levels, can be substantial.
Prior art enrichment methods. Significantly, conventional/standard methods for detection of pathogens in food (dry and liquid) involve diluting the sample 1:10 (wt/v) with media (e.g., sterile media) (or with another diluent, followed immediately by serial dilution into media to provide an effective 1:10 dilution into media), and thus involve the use of substantial volumes of media. For example, the conventional method for expanding and testing for coliforms, fecal coliforms and E. coli in food, comprises a 1:10 dilution of the samples (e.g., 50 g into 450 ml) (see, e.g., U.S. FDA Bacteriology Analytical Manual Online, Chapter 4 and 4A, describing standard 1:10 dilution procedures for testing of coliforms, fecal coliforms and E. coli in food, shellfish and juices). Significantly, these protocols have been adopted in the field so that samples (e.g., meat samples) at remote locations are typically diluted 1:10 (wt./vol.), and then shipped under ambient or uncontrolled conditions to a test location, where they are incubated at an optimal temperature and subsequently tested for pathogens.
For example, the following prior art examples comprise enrichment followed by detection of the target organisms in the enriched media, and are based on the use of 1:10 dilution of the sample in an appropriate media/buffer:
Escherichia coli. The assay for the detection of E. coli in citrus juices, as described in the Bacteriological Analytical manual (BAM) (United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, Bacteriological Analytical Manual, Chapter 4, Enumeration of Escherichia coli and the Coliform Bacteria, September 2002), is carried out in duplicate. Basically, a 10-mL portion of juice is aseptically inoculated into 90 mL of Universal Pre-enrichment Broth (UPEB) and incubated at 35° C. for 24 h. After enrichment, the sample is mixed and 1 mL is transferred from each UPEB enrichment broth into 9 mL of EC broth containing a CC disc, and EC/CC broth tubes are incubated at 44.5° C. in a circulating water bath for 24 h. Preferably, positive (tube inoculated with a MUG (+) E. coli strain) and negative (tube inoculated with K. pneumoniae) controls are included. The tubes are checked in the dark and under long wave UV light. The presence of blue fluorescence in either tube is indicative that E. coli is present in the sample. Note: the CC discs also contain X-gal, which when cleaved by β-galactosidase will yield blue color on or around the disc. This reaction is analogous to measuring acid/gas production from fermentation of lactose hence, the presence of blue color is indicative of coliforms. For the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in food, 25 g of ground beef is incubated in 225 ml of selective enrichment medium for 16 to 18 h at 37° C. with agitation (Padhye & Doyle, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 57:2693-2698, 1991). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used to detect the pathogen from the enriched culture. Doyle & Schoeni (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53:2394-2396, 1987) isolated E. coli O157:H7 from retail fresh meats and poultry using the enrichment method whereby 25 g of food sample was added to 225 modified TSB. In the same fashion, fecal sample enrichment was done with modified TSB at 1:10 ratio (Zhao et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:1290-1293, 1995).
Salmonella. BAM, 2003 teaches use of 1:9 sample/broth ratio (1:10 dilution) for detection of salmonella in meats, meat substitutes, meat by-products, animal substances, glandular products, and meals (fish, meat, bone). The recommended procedure is as follows: weigh twenty-five gm (25 g) of sample aseptically; add 225 ml of sterile lactose broth and blend for two min.; transfer the homogenized mixture aseptically to a sterile wide-mouth, screw-cap jar (500 ml) or other appropriate container and let stand 60±5 min at room temperature with the container securely capped (blending can be omitted if mixture is powder, ground or comminuted) (lactose broth is added to samples that do not require blending); mix well and check the pH with the help of a test paper; adjust pH, if necessary, to 6.8±0.2; add up to 2.25 ml steamed (15 min) Tergitol Anionic 7 and mix well (alternatively, steamed (15 min) Triton X-100 can be used) (the use of surfactants should be limited to initiate foaming); and loosen jar caps ¼ turn and incubate sample mixtures 24±2 h at 35° C.
Likewise, Pignato et al. (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61: 1996-1999, 1995) evaluated new culture media for rapid detection and isolation of salmonellae in foods. The methodology followed was as follows: fifty g of meat samples are taken and minced; 25 g is homogenized for 1 min in a stomacher with 225 ml of Buffered Peptone Water (BPW) and then pre-enriched by incubation for 24 h at 37° C., while 25 g is homogenized with 225 ml of Salmosyst broth and is further pre-enriched by incubation for 6 h at 37° C.; the whole contents of two eggs are homogenized for 30 s in a stomacher and then divided in two aliquots of 50 g each for pre-enrichment with 450 ml of BPW and 450 ml of Salmosyst broth; and an aliquot of 10 ml of BPW is transferred to 100 ml of Müller-Kauffmann tetrathionate broth (M-KTB), for selective enrichment by incubation for 24 and 48 h at 43° C. after the preenrichment. For the detection of Salmonella spp., 25 g of ground pork is enriched in 225 ml of prewarmed buffered peptone water (Ng et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2294-2302, 1996). The same ratio (1:10) of enrichment was done for infant milk for the detection of Salmonella spp.
See also United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Chapter 5. Salmonella, April 2003.
Shigella sonnei. The conventional culture method for the enrichment of Shigella sonnei includes the use of 25 g sample into 225 ml shigella broth, already containing 0.5 μg/ml novobiocin (United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Chapter 6. Shigella, January 2001). The procedure is as follows: pour supernatant into sterile 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask; adjust pH, to 7.0±0.2 with sterile 1 N NaOH or 1 N HCl; set the flask in an anaerobic jar with fresh catalyst; insert GasPak™ and activate by adding water; incubate the jars in 44.0° C. water bath for 20 h; stir the enrichment culture suspension and streak on a MacConkey agar; and incubate for 20 h at 35° C.
Campylobacter. United States Food & drug Administration, and Center for Food safety & Applied Nutrition, Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Chapter 7, Campylobacter, March 2001 (2001) suggests the use of a 1:10 dilution for sample enrichment when high numbers of background flora (with broad species diversity) are present. It is taught that sample dilution helps antibiotics perform more effectively, and campylobacter cells utilize the low-oxygen atmosphere more efficiently.
Listeria. For the prior art enrichment of Listeria monocytogenes in composite samples, a composite blend of 50 g (equivalent to 25 g food plus 25 ml basal Buffered Listeria enrichment broth (BLEB)) is mixed with a 200 ml amount of basal BLEB. An aliquot (50 ml) of the composite blend is retained, preferably at 5° C. and not below 0° C., for possible pathogen enumeration. For non-composited samples, single 25 g analytical portions of food are blended or stomached in 225 ml of basal BLEB and pre-enriched/enriched as per the procedures. A 25 g sample is retained for possible pathogen enumeration and should be stored either frozen, in a non-defrosting freezer or at 5° C.
Ryser et al (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62(5): 1781-1787, 1996) conducted experiments for the recovery of Listeria ribotypes from naturally contaminated, raw refrigerated meat and poultry products. A 1:10 sample dilution is used. Paired samples of ground beef, pork sausage, ground turkey, and chicken weighing 25 g are inoculated into 225 ml each of University of Vermont-modified Listeria enrichment broth (UVM; Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) and Listeria repair broth (LRB; developed by Busch and Donnelly; Busch & Donnelly, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:14-20, 1992), homogenized for 2 min in a Lab-Tek 400 Stomacher (Tek-mar, Cincinnati, Ohio), and incubated at 30° C. An aliquot of 0.1 ml of each UVM and LRB primary enrichment is inoculated into a separate tube containing 10 ml of Fraser broth after an incubation of 22 to 26 h at 30° C. Following 24 and 40 h of incubation at 35° C., all secondary enrichments, regardless of color change due to esculin hydrolysis, are streaked onto modified Oxford agar plates. All plates are incubated at 35° C. for 24 h, after which two presumptive Listeria isolates per sample for each primary enrichment medium are streaked onto brain heart infusion agar plates for purification and incubated at 35° C. for 24 h. An additional eight presumptive UVM and LRB Listeria isolates per primary enrichment medium from five samples of each of the four products are also streaked onto plates of brain heart infusion agar and similarly incubated.
Likewise, Norton et al. (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67(1): 198-205, 2001) use a dilution of 1:10 for the Listeria enrichment. Twenty-five-gram portions of raw, in-process, and smoked fish are homogenized in 225 ml of Listeria Enrichment Broth (LEB) (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) using a Stomacher 400 laboratory blender (Seward Ltd.). Brine solutions, in 25-ml aliquots, are inoculated into 225 ml of LEB. Swabs and transport media are transferred aseptically to 8 ml of LEB. After 24 and 48 h of incubation at 30° C., 0.1 ml of each enrichment culture are plated on Oxford medium containing the Oxford Antimicrobic Supplement (Difco Laboratories), and incubated at 30° C. for 48 h. Pure culture isolates used for hlyA PCR or BAX system analysis (for confirmation that this system correctly identifies isolates from culture-positive, BAX system-negative samples) are cultured into brain heart infusion broth at 37° C. with shaking for 12 to 15 h.
Growth of healthy and heat-injured strains of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. from raw milk was supported by enrichment of sample in the universal pre-enrichment broth. One ml of milk was inoculated into tubes containing 9 ml of pre-enrichment broth (Jiang et al., J. Dairy Sci. 81:7298-72830, 1998).
See also United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. Bacteriological Analytical Manual, Chapter 10. Detection and enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes in foods, January 2003.
Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. The simplified procedure for isolating Yersinia from food, water, and environmental samples as suggested in Bacteriological Analytical Manual (United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, 2001) is as follows: aseptically weigh 25 g sample into 225 ml Peptone sorbitol bile broth (PSBB). Homogenize for 30 s and incubate at 10° C. for 10 days. If high levels of Yersinia are expected in product, spread-plate 0.1 ml on MacConkey agar (Doyle et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 42:661-666, 1981, In United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, 2001, Weissfeld (Weissfeld & Sonnenwirth, J. Clin. Microbiol. 15:508-510, 1982.) In United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, 2001) and 0.1 ml on CIN agar (Schiemann, D. A., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 43:14-27, In United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. January 2001, Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Chapter 8, 1982, In United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, 2001; Schiemann & Wauters, Yersinia. Chapter 27. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, pp. 601-672, In: Compendium of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods, 3rd ed., C. Vanderzant and D. F. Splittstoesser (eds), American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C., In United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. January 2001, Bacteriological Analytical Manual, Chapter 8, 1992; In United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition) before incubating the broth.
A selective enrichment for plasmid-bearing virulent serotypes of Yersinia enterocolitica from pork was developed in which 10 g of samples is incubated with 90 ml of modified Tripticase soy broth (MTSB) (Bhaduri S. et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63(5):1657-60, 1997). The first 10 ml of MTSB is added to the samples and was allowed to stand for 5 min, followed by adding the remainder 80 ml of MTSB into the sample bag for a 24 h incubation at 12° C.
Vibrio cholerae. Bacteriological Analytical manual (United States Food & Drug Administration, and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, Bacteriological Analytical Manual, Chapter 9; Vibrio, July 2001) recommends addition of 225 ml alkaline peptone water (APW) with 25 g of weighed sample into a tarred jar (approximately 500 ml capacity). Seafood or vegetables are blended or cut into small pieces with sterile scissors. The mixed sample is blended for 2 min at high speed, and incubated in APW at 35±2° C. for 6 to 8 h.
Clostridium. Fach et al. (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:389-92, 1995) incubate 10 g of food samples (raw/cooked beef, raw/cooked pork, and raw fish) in 90 ml of Trypticase yeast extract glucose for the detection of Clostridium spp. Similarly, Dahlenborg et al. (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67:4781-8, 2001) incubate 10 g of feces in 90 ml of tryptone-peptone-glucose-yeast extract to select for C. botulinum. 
Specialized, selective media. Additionally, various specialized selection media (and agar) are known and used in the art. Such media comprises one or more anti-microbial reagents (e.g., tellurite and cefixime that selectively suppress particular (e.g., normal) flora growth and interference therefrom, to enhance the ability to detect, for example a slower growing pathogen (e.g., E. coli O157:H7). Such anti-microbial reagents, while having utility, nonetheless add even more expense to the media.
Therefore, not only is the cost of the sterile media itself significant, but, given the volumes typically involved, the associated shipping costs are also substantial given the large volumes (sample plus media/buffer). Furthermore, the size of the prior art samples (plus media/buffer) make it impractical to ship at an appropriate or optimal temperature (e.g. using temperature-controlled, spill-proof shipping containers/incubators. The inability to take advantage of shipping time for enrichment results in a substantial time delay in obtaining laboratory results. This has forced many industries and entities to either use local testing facilities, build in-house certifiable testing labs, or accept, a substantial expense, the additional 1-2 days of ‘process’ time while awaiting test results.
Generally speaking, development of more timely and cost effective sampling, enrichment and testing procedures will make efficient use of the industry's financial resources, and thus will facilitate industry implementation of, and compliance with regulatory guidelines.
Therefore, to provide efficient and cost effective testing methods, and to facilitate industry implementation of and compliance with regulatory guidelines, there is a pronounced need in the art for rapid and efficient methods and apparatus for detection, at test locations that are remote from the site(s) of sampling, of various kinds of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic pathogens that are capable of in vivo multiplication.
There is a pronounced need in the art to reduce the time required to obtain meaningful test results from remote test locations.
There is a pronounced need in the art to reduce the costs of obtaining such timely meaningful test results from remote test locations.
There is a pronounced need in the art for accurate and efficient methods for testing samples at a remote location, including but not limited to beef, pork, sheep, bison, deer, elk, poultry (e.g., chicken and turkey) and fish, produce, juices, dairy products, dry goods (cereals, etc), and all manners of raw and processed foods, environmental samples (water, wastewater, soil, surface samples, samples taken by impingers and filtration, etc), pharmaceuticals, and other types of samples that are to be analyzed using enrichment-detection protocols.